Page 25: Ingall's Lake

The wind kicking up little whitecaps.

6:30 PM – Not too long ago, we were visited by two hunters with rifles and ammo belts criss-crossed across their chests that made them look like real banditos. They marched right into my camp to say ‘howdy’ and made me feel a little nervous. I was eating dinner when I saw them coming and grabbed Mica by the scruff of the neck. She didn’t like the looks of them, either, had her hackles raised and was growling. It was pretty impressive.

They asked if I was up there all by my little lonesome.  Since they were peering into my tent and the one sleeping bag was visible, there was no sense in lying, so I said yes.  Then they asked if I wasn’t afraid.  I looked at them real coldly and said no; no one could get near my camp without the dogs letting me know and that gave me plenty of chance to prepare.  Mica snarled, right on cue.  I’ve never seen her behave like that before or since.

Finally, the two of them left and headed back to Stuart Meadows, where they were camped with their horses. I was suddenly glad that there were other people camped nearby. After they left I quickly finished my dinner, then went out onto the rocks so I could see down into the Meadows. I watched until I saw them headed well down towards their camp.  It left me with an uneasy feeling, however, and I spent a restless night just half dozing.

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